corydalis

…a large number of people over a certain age would insist that spring no longer exists… E. A. Bowles, My Garden in Spring(1914) This week (April 26-May1) has been perfect gardeners’ weather. Cool enough to hold in flower the earliest bulbs, warm enough to encourage new growth. Snowdrops linger throughout the South Jungle and in [...]

I took a look at last year's April bloom day post, and discovered that most of last year's blooms are already gone. The crocus that were in their glory last April, are completely done with this year. The squills are at the end of their bloom. The Cornelian cherry that was merely in bud this [...]

Spring: when a gardener wonders which of last year's new plants made it through the winter. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote down a list of things I had planted last year but hadn't seen make an appearance yet. Here's the list, with my current thinking on each (click on each thumbnail to enlarge): [...]

Looking over last year's April Bloom Day post, I see the same things blooming at pretty much the same time. The smaller-and-earlier species crocus are on the wane, but the later-and-larger Dutch crocus are definitely making a color statement. I'm thinking about getting more of these and extending the crocus bank further towards the road [...]

Variegated bulbous oat grass, sweet white violet, and a bit of 'White Nancy' lamium in the lower left cornerBecause of the warm April, a lot of the daffodils that were still blooming last year are done for this year. This is the "gap" time between the early blooming spring flowers and the big June extravaganza [...]

In September 2004 I planted 4 different Corydalis bulbs that I had ordered from Odyssey Bulbs. They promised to be exquisite, so I could hardly wait until spring, and started patroling the vicinity as soon as the snow had melted. I especially wanted to see Corydalis bracteata (not offered this year), which owner Russell Stafford [...]